Finding Sunshine on the Last Frontier: "O Rugged Land of Gold" by Martha Martin

Last fall my family was introduced to the inter-workings and rich history of Alaskan culture while my Dad spent a week in the Arctic Circle of the Last Frontier for a professional commitment.  From start to finish our entire family was inspired to learn of the culture and grit that is possessed by the people who live there full-time.  It was obvious they make the best of their circumstances including being so far away from food sources out of the lower 48 states, months of darkness and limited resources overall. Fast forward to this summer when my mother shared with me a used book she had purchased for her thrifting ginger because she suspected it would be something I'd really enjoy. It was a book set in Alaska and told a story of a woman who overcame harrowing trials while being stranded (and pregnant) in Alaska.  That book was "O Rugged Land of Gold" by Martha Martin. To say it was moving is definitely an understatement and I'm happy to share it with all of you this week.

"O Rugged Land of Gold" is a fascinating work of writing.  It is 80% factual and 20% fictional.  My mother discovered it because she had watched a movie interpretation of the story and decided to read the book.  The book itself was published in the late 1950s, but the story took place in the 1920s.  The writing style is very much a folksy style and you can tell it was written by someone more in a journalistic style than a commercial authoring style.

Martha Martin is a pen name for the main character, Helen Bolyan.  Helen is the wife of a gold prospector and has found herself stranded at their current prospecting camp. She is also pregnant and winter is setting in quickly.  She embarks on a journey that is absolutely miraculous and heroic.  The book begins with her being injured in a land slide that damages her leg. She is forced to make her own cast and crutch so she can make it back to her cabin where all the food is stored.  Somehow she manages to do all of this and the book is her journal entries of the faith she has that God will help her husband find her and come back before their baby is born.  So many times while I read this book and literally had to stop reading and thank God I wasn't pregnant and alone in Alaska.  Sometimes life can be super sucky and stressful (holy alliterations), but I know that I have it GOOOOOOOD living in the modern age that I do.

Helen shares some really profound thoughts on her relationship with God that I related to so well.  She shared some powerful words about the level of growth and appreciation she found for deity while living in the wilderness of Alaska and being alone.  Quite literally it was her and God on a daily basis.  She would talk to Him and the animals who would come to visit her for scraps. How could anyone survive? Well, she didn't have any other option, but to survive, and she chose to make the best of it.

One particular passage really touched my heart and I shared it on my social media platforms the night I read it.  It's an entire page's worth of text so I will share the photo here for you to read.

Probably my favorite sentence in this passage is, "for me contact with God comes through his creation; air, the creeping things upon the earth and the fishes in the sea, the starry heavens, the loyalty of a friend, love and devotion, faith and work, honor and awe." This is so true for me.  I'm in awe of God's creations every day.  I'm so grateful for spectacular sunsets across the Big Sky of Montana that I can see out my kitchen window that remind me that He is there and He is blessing me with beauty in nature. I'm grateful for friends who give unconditional love and devotion in times when I need it most aka when I'm the conductor of the Hot Mess Express. And most of all, I'm grateful for my faith and honor to a God on high who has kept me safe from my own doubts and fears.

My recommended reading group would be age 16 and above.  It's a PG-13 read with themes of survival and fear while living in the wilderness of Alaska in the 1920s.

The moral of the story: God's creations are all around us. A starry night sky or a breathtaking sunset after a crappy day are his physical reminders that He is there, He cares and He is blessing us all the time.

Happy reading, my amazing, geeky lovelies!
-R

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Therapy Book Club is Totally a Thing: "Furiously Happy" by Jenny Lawson

Not long ago, my friend/professional colleague and I went to dinner and the topic of mental health came up over chips, salsa, too much Diet Coke and one beautiful margarita.  We shared our stories with each other and found that, while we had a lot of different events, our similar events were much too similar and no coincidence that we related well to each other in the professional world. Her professional realm is on the therapy side of things and I shared how challenging it has been to find a new therapist who even begins to compare to my amazing therapist in Utah.  I also shared that sometimes I just need to have a solid night of laughs, snacks and girl talk then I'm fine. Generally, that is cheaper than therapy, but just as hard to come by in the sticks of eastern Montana. And then my friend had a brilliant idea......we should start a book club.....and not just any book club, but it should be THERAPY book club.  The announcement I made on Facebook said, "As it is with therapy chips and salsa, the universe has called for a therapy book club as well. The requirements are simple: nonfiction that inspires and makes us laugh and is likely off-color." And that, my friends, is what we did and it is a gift from the laughter gods on high. Each month I will add a review on le blog to share what book we are reading so you can follow along as well....if you need some therapy book club in your life.....ha, ha Raylynn....who said anything about "if".....how about WHEN.

The inaugural book for our club is "Furiously Happy" by Jenny Lawson.  For those of you who may not be familiar with Jenny, she is hysterical! She is also certifiably crazy and has embraced it while she sits comfortably on the New York Times bestseller VIP list.  "Furiously Happy"  is her second book and is a collection of short stories about her life in the fast lane of mental health battles.  The sub-title of the book is "A funny book about horrible things." She presents a wide-range of experiences from her life about the roller coaster that is living with serious mental health conditions.

Even before I got to the actual meat of the book, I had already worn down my coloring pencil from highlighting.  The author's notes were absolutely fabulous and hooked me because I knew I'd be reading a book written by someone who actually gets it.  Here is an example that really resonated with me. "When you come out of the grips of depression there is an incredible relief, but not one you feel allowed to celebrate. Instead, the feeling of victory is replace with anxiety that it will happen again, and with shame and vulnerability when you see how your illness affected your family, your work, everything left untouched while you struggled to survive. We come back to life thinner, paler, weaker....but as survivors. Survivors who don't get pats on the back from coworkers who congratulate them on making it.  Survivors who wake up to more work than before because their friends and family are exhausted from helping them fight a battle they may not even understand."

One of my greatest challenges from living with my bestie named depression is finding people who get it. There is nothing WORSE than some insensitive dip shit who says to me (in late January or in month 4 of yet another bout of unnecessary unemployment) "oh you can just get over it."  Mmmmmm hmmmmm, here's your sign and get the hell out of my life.  It's incredibly hard to function at times and this book is a cool glass of lemonade on a hot summer's day because it helps me feel like I'm not alone in my adventure.  A few pages after the quote above the author concluded her notes with this, "I celebrate every one of you reading this. I celebrate the fact that you've fought your battle and continue to win. I celebrate the fact that you may not understand the battle, but you pick up the baton dropped by someone you love until they can carry it again. I survived and I remind myself that each time we go through this, we get a little stronger. We don't struggle in vain. We win. We are alive."

The level of gratitude I have for this newfound group of women in my life is infinite. We have laughed like the crazies that we are sharing our stories and finding joy in our mental health battles.  I've made new friends that I never imagined which I've been praying for since I move back to my Podunk home town.  No matter what, having a group of people in you life who GET IT is the best type of self care a person could ever give themselves.  I'm so blessed to have weekly chips and salsa, girl talk and unfiltered therapy on my own red couch every week.

My recommended reading group would be age 18 and above.  It's straight-up Rated R and talks about a lot of life experiences, sprinkled with the F-bomb, that accompany mental health roller coaster rides.

The moral of the story: We are all crazy....some of us just embrace it better than others. Find your group of crazies and start a therapy book club. You'll thank the laughter gods too.  I promise.

Happy reading, my amazing, geeky lovelies!
-R

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Hard Times Come Again No More: "Enemy Women" by Paulette Jiles

If ever there was a week for irony with the book I was currently reading, it was this week.  It was also interesting and just as ironic that I read two Civil War historical fiction novels two weeks before a huge scuffle happened in the media with an ad campaign that sent many people in an uproar, but also shed light on racial injustice like never before.  All week I've been thinking about how "Enemy Women" by Paulette Jiles  connects with my thoughts about racial injustice and quite frankly it's been a lot to ponder.

Paulette Jiles is a fascinating author.  This is the second book that she's written that I've read and I'm amazed at how thorough she is in her research. Historical fiction that further enlightens me on actual history is a treat! Much of the story line centers around women who are incarcerated for being related or associated with people who oppose the Civil War (both sides).  Adair Colley is the main character and she and her sisters are forced to find refuge away from their home of neutral Missouri because the Union militia has taken their father.  In the course of their journey, Adair is captured and taken to jail for mere association. She is thrown in jail with a number of women who share similar stories. The details and dialogue associated with the jail were staggering.  Why in the world would someone think it was OK to arrest someone merely on the basis of association? In the book, the reasoning provided is because they might know something because their lovers, brothers, fathers would obviously be sharing war secrets at the dinner table.  It's obvious that Adair is a strong-willed woman and she soon becomes a leader among these "enemy women."

Throughout the book, we are introduced to the philosophies of freedom and neutrality.  I really enjoyed the way that the author portrayed Adair because she really tried to be a neutral party.  She believed in freedom which also meant she believed in racial justice.  At the end of the day, she just wanted to be free and able to see her sisters again.  At one point she is asked to write a story that would somehow incriminate her father. She can't do it because her loyalty lies with her family and she knows there is nothing to share that will incriminate.

Another aspect of this book that I loved was the fierce honesty and loyalty Adair possessed.  At the beginning of the book members of the Union militia steal Adair's family's horses, including her prized horse named Whiskey.  She is devastated and later in the book, after she escapes from jail, she finds her horses and rescues them.  There is a lot of dialogue about Whiskey and how much she loves him. When they reunite with each other, both are nearly dead, but somehow they get through it all together.

As is par for the course, I'm always a little bit judgy when I read another book by the same author.  "News of the World" blew me out of the water.  It had such an impact on me because of my professional work.  I cried and felt emotionally attached to the characters in that book.  This book was still stellar, but I hoped for more.  There is a sub-plot-line that leads the reader to believe one thing might happen, but then another happens.  Not the end of the world, but I was really hoping for it to go my way.  As she did in "News of the World," Paulette Jiles didn't use quotation marks in any conversational writing.  Not my favorite style of writing, but I was used to it after reading "News of the World" and did just fine.

No matter what, whenever I read a Civil War historical fiction novel, I always stop and think about which side I'd be on if I was living in that time.  Truthfully, I've always pictured myself on the veranda of my peach plantation in Georgia, but I guarantee you, I'd be the liberal who was a stop on the Underground Railroad and harboring fugitives. But, I digress.  The Civil War gives us a constant reminder that racial injustice royally rocked the boat in this country and the plague of racism continues. Yesterday morning I shared the following on my personal Facebook page.  While it doesn't relate to this book in any way, I feel like it's important for my audience to read and know that "Enemy Women" will connect so much of my point when you read it.  I wrote the following,

"Whether we agree or not, this campaign (WATCH VIDEO HERE) was about the minority having a voice. Most of the negative feedback I’ve seen have been from Caucasian individuals. Until we’ve been on the receiving end of racial injustice we have absolutely no room to bitch and moan about Nike’s decision for this campaign. Do I think our military heroes are heroes? Hell yes. Why wouldn’t I? Am I incredibly grateful and fiercely supportive of law enforcement? ABSOLUTELY. But, we have to step outside of our white-privileged-bubbles and realize that there is a large population in the world who feel they are sub-par because of their skin color. Pissed at Nike for marketing to this group of humans? Don’t buy their stuff. It’s that simple. There are plenty of people who will make up for your choice to support another company. It’s ok. That’s when our freedom as Americans comes in to play. We can decide. We are LUCKY to decide."

It's my hope that we can read books like "Enemy Women" and see that there were so many who came before us who fought really hard for our freedom to decide. While the characters in this book were fictional, I guarantee you there are countless stories of men and women who damn-near died in the name of protecting their family's good name and their passion for freedom of all races during one of the bloodiest wars ever. Let's not forget what has been accomplished before us and continue to fight on for racial equality.

My recommended reading group would be age 16 and above.  It's a PG-13 read with heavy themes based around the Civil War.

The moral of the story: Freedom to decide is never, ever free and still a pipe dream for many. Don't be the person who makes it worse for someone hoping and praying for racial justice.  Just don't do it.

Happy reading, my amazing, geeky lovelies!
-R

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Spoonfuls of Secrets Best Kept: "The Sugar Queen" by Sarah Addison Allen

Before summer got a bit overwhelming, I finished a book that was probably the biggest surprise of this year. It was quite the secret in terms of the plot line, especially since the author usually writes upbeat and magical books, not a bit dark and twisted.  While I didn't LOVE "The Sugar Queen" by Sarah Addison Allen as much as her magical, happy books like "The Peach Keeper", I could not stop reading it. Sarah Addison Allen is quite easily on my list of Top 5 favorite authors, but this book was her total curve ball for me and one that I would love to pick her brain about the reasons for choosing this type of plot line.

"The Sugar Queen" takes place in a mountain town in North Carolina.  The main character, Josey Cirrini, is a woman with a long list of struggles including mom issues and emotional eating at the top of the list. She spends much of her time in her bedroom closet hiding from her mother and eating sugary treats. One day she comes home to find a mystery woman in her closet. She is startled and tries to make her go away. The mystery lady is someone who Josey has known for much of her life and it's odd to her that she would hide in her closet.  She never leaves and her mother always complains about the extra noises upstairs. We soon find out that the mystery woman is in hiding from an extremely abusive partner.

Some of the themes addressed in this book are domestic violence, mental health, difficult family dynamics and self esteem. One of the absolute best parts of the book is the relationship that builds between the mystery lady and Josey. The mystery lady becomes a bit of a fairy godmother figure for her and really tries to help her step outside of her comfort zone and try new things. She also kicks her out the door to meet new people and have a social life.  The dialogue between the two women was really fantastic once they decided they could find common ground with each other.  This element of the plot is probably what kept me reading because it really showed the importance of solid girl friends in our lives.  Josey had no one, but this mystery woman knew she needed a friend and so it happened.

I was quite shocked at the details shared regarding domestic violence and when the book came full circle, I had to stop and take a deep breath and figure out where I had missed some key clues to the ending.  I honestly believe that I would have liked this book more if I hadn't expected a happy, fluffy magical plot line prior to reading it.  As is always the case with Sarah Addison Allen's work, she has an element of magic and romance in each of her books.  This book wasn't any different, but it was dark. The other element of this book that made it difficult to enjoy was my own issues with mental health, difficult family dynamics and self esteem. I wouldn't jump right to this book being a trigger, but there were times when I thought, "yep......felt that.....like yesterday." If you are sensitive to details of domestic violence and it might be a personal trigger for you, I'd definitely caution you in reading this book.

Overall, it was really well-written and the structuring of build-up, climax and ending were on point.  The ending was a total surprise and I didn't see it coming. I like those types of ending because I feel like the author took the time to write in such a way that it wasn't obvious from Chapter 2.  When authors make it obvious that early in the book, it is just lazy writing, in my opinion.

My recommended reading group would be age 16 and above.  It's a solid PG-13 read with themes of domestic violence, mental health and self-worth struggles.

The moral of the story: Sometimes the most unexpected person becomes your most critical ally.

Happy reading, my amazing, geeky lovelies!
-R

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